Nintendo discontinues cost-saving game vouchers for Switch Online players

In 2019, Nintendo announced a new benefit for subscribers to its Switch Online service: a pair of game vouchers, available for $100, that could be redeemed for any two Switch games on Nintendo's eligibility list. If you already knew you were going to be buying first-party games, the voucher could save you $20 or even $30, if you used it on the normally $70 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

However, Nintendo announced today that it will soon end the program, rather than carrying it forward into the Switch 2 era. Switch Online subscribers can still buy a pair of vouchers until the end of January 2026, and those vouchers will be redeemable for up to a year after purchase, but you can't buy new vouchers after that.

The vouchers were already notably not usable to buy Switch 2-exclusive games like Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza. However, for hybrid Switch games with a separate Switch 2 Edition, you could still use them to buy a game like Tears of the Kingdom and then upgrade it to the Switch 2 edition separately. Nintendo also said on its FAQ page that new titles would be added to the eligibility list between now and January 2026, raising the possibility that upcoming high-profile hybrid games like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond or Pokémon Legends: Z-A could make the list.